María Berrío: The Cuttings

‘This work is meant as a reminder of the fragility of all our existences, how suddenly everything can be taken away…’ — María Berrío

Speaking about this new painting the artist says: ‘In this work, a young woman holds a bouquet of fresh flowers, symbol of the blossoming youth cut down in the carnage of war. The bright yellows and oranges of the petals are seen against a backdrop of foreboding, smoggy brown and grays: it is a brief brightness, soon to be overtaken and smothered by the hues of smoke and rubble, the colors left in war’s wake.

‘My hope is that the raising of funds from this painting helps provide shelter and food for the people of Ukraine and other nations. This work is meant as a reminder of the fragility of all our existences, how suddenly everything can be taken away: our nations, cities, families are all perched atop thin stalks. It is the flimsiest of structures that supports our beautiful lives.’

Based in Brooklyn, María Berrío grew up in Colombia. Her works, which are meticulously crafted from layers of Japanese paper, reflect on cross-cultural connections and global migration seen through the prism of her own history.

Her work has been shown as part of significant exhibitions at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA; Nasher Museum of Art, USA; Prospect.4 Triennial, New Orleans; and the Museo del Barrio, New York. The artist’s first survey show María Berrío: Esperando mientras la noche florece (Waiting for the Night to Bloom) was on view at The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach from January until May 2021. Her work is currently featured in Women Painting Women, a thematic exhibition featuring 46 female artists who choose women as subject matter in their works, on view at The Modern, Fort Worth, 15 May–25 September 2022. Also this spring, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami will display recent acquisitions for the first time, including Berrío’s 2020 sculpture The Petition. Additionally, the artist’s work will be included in a major group exhibition opening in September at The DePaul Art Museum in Chicago, titled A Natural Turn.

Berrío’s work is in permanent collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, USA; Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, USA; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, USA and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, USA, among others.

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